EPA Announces Texas Student Wins President’s Environmental Youth Award
Publilshed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
DALLAS, TEXAS (July 16, 2024) – The Environmental Protection Agency Region 6 is pleased to announce the 2024 winner of the President’s Environmental Youth Award, Daniel Thomas of Colleyville, Texas. In 2019, Daniel founded an organization called LitterScout with the goal of addressing local environmental challenges with a specific goal of addressing pollution in waterways.
“We are happy to see the next generation take such an interest in preserving our environment,” said Regional Administrator Dr. Earthea Nance. “Daniel has taken great strides in preserving our waterways from pollution and has created initiatives that shows a strong skill for leadership and environmental innovation. We congratulate Daniel on his accomplishments and look forward to seeing his future projects.”
Through LitterScout, Daniel managed to accomplish significant milestones such as organizing monthly cleanups in three Texas cities: Euless, Colleyville & Grapevine. Daniel created 36 Youtube videos on environment awareness and issues, produced 36 podcasts, wrote 36 blog posts, and published a book called Sustainable Living: Environmental Tips for Kids. Additionally, Daniel created an app which functions as a way to report littering along trails and waterways. Since the development of Litterscout, the organization has prevented 16,703 lbs. of trash from waterways and 4903 lbs. of recyclables from landfills. In recognition for Daniel’s efforts the City of Euless awarded him the Youth Volunteer of the Award in 2022 and Governor Abbott awarded him the Texas Environmental Excellence Award in 2023, the state’s highest environmental award.
Daniel is one of several students across the country who have received this prestigious award. The applicants who were chosen as the winners demonstrated the ability to safeguard natural resources and to engage their communities in environmental awareness and protection. The EPA encourages young people across the nation to apply for this award to showcase the efforts they’ve taken in their communities. For additional information on PEYA and how to apply please visit our webpage.
Background
Since the establishment of the original Environmental Education Act of 1970, The President’s Environmental Youth Award (PEYA) Program has recognized outstanding community-level environmental projects by K-12 youth for almost 50 years. PEYA continues to promote awareness of natural resources and encourages positive community involvement. Each year, PEYA honors a wide-variety of local-level projects developed by students, school classes, summer camp attendees and youth organizations to promote engagement in environmental stewardship and protection. Students in all 50 states and U.S. territories are invited to participate in the program.
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Read the full article at: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-announces-texas-student-wins-presidents-environmental-youth-award
